Messages

Hi Puritan! Just to keep you in the loop, last month I released six more maps as the demo for another conceptual episode, Zero Zone. More info here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-3d-blast-radius/news/blast-radius-v200-release-ft-episode-2-zero-zone-six-level-demo

Radar Duker on YouTube already has videos up of (most of) the maps.

I hope you like it, the download for now is part of Blast Radius, since it expands on the code and acts like a continuation albeit in a different style. So the download link is the same: https://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-3d-blast-radius/downloads/duke-nukem-3d-blast-radius

If you would like to host it and that is possible, then maybe it should share the same link as Blast Radius because of the duality. That also would be a nice opportunity to update the version of it that is on your server, at this stage I've given most all the maps from both episodes many passes, fixed most mistakes and so for a while this version ( 2.0.8 ) also shouldn't budge, minus occasional cosmetic retouches that shouldn't warrant an update until the next slice of Zero Zone, but that may be in a long, uncertain while. I need to take some time away from the editor.

Curious to hear if you enjoy the new levels. They are difficult (especially the second one can be mean on CGS) but generally more accessible than the Blast Radius style and also introduce new surprising mechanics. Hope you have fun in the zone!

Hi Puritan! I just released a new map for Blast Radius (15th/2nd secret) and updated the mod with it: https://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-3d-blast-radius/news/blast-radius-110-release-ft-new-15th-secret-level-more

It's reached v.1.1.0 now and while I've been abstaining from reporting smaller updates since I know managing the system is difficult, some of those recent modifications to the project have been fixing a lot of issues around some of the levels, including bugged secrets and broken doors and so the package you're hosting on CGS as a whole I'd say would be worthwhile refreshing now. Addition of level 15 sort of cements Blast Radius' final form now, mod has been out for long enough that I could catch most possible issues/bugs/problems and I personally feel like moving onto fresh stuff and so from this point onwards it really shouldn't budge much anymore but for potentially microscopic tweaks that do not matter. I don't want any more maps in BR or anything and so this should be my last time suggesting refreshing the file. (Now you understand why I was prefering to wait!)

New map introduces a new enemy variant; I'm curious what you'll think of it! Level 10 has a brand new secret exit section to match, too, but one can always jump right into the new level by loading brl15.map as a user map or inputting the cheat code, DNSCOTTY115 if they don't want to bother finding it legit.

Did we just get new forum software or is it my recently fixed laptop which now allows me to see this fresh version? Awesome! I think I've spotted a typo in the text in the top right corner; probably should be "Duke 3D never dies!" (right now is missing an 's').

Hope all is well and you have fun with the new map. Cheers!

I just noticed Merlijn's first two Shaky Grounds maps were up on here without a proper review (what they do have is an old one by me for SG3, and Aleks' recent review of the full episode). I started a full playthrough of the episode a couple of nights ago and have spontaneously been writing reviews for Apocollapse and Tales of Tragedy I'll most likely use as a basis for something to post on ModDB, but you can also use those for CGS if you want, both are on this page: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/11861-release-shaky-grounds-episode/page__st__30

Hi Puritan and Aleks and thank you for the kind enthusiasm!

I actually was abstaining from sharing the news about Blast Radius on here just yet on purpose because the file just keeps receiving significant updates around the levels, code and even installation process/structure to this day, so I've been trying to avoid mirrors until a version would feel more definitive and stable.

Current version is now onto 1.0.14 and I feel like from now on shouldn't budge much, at least not in a way that is significant. I think this one should be a better central reference on CGS (it cleans up a lot of post-release mess versions from the past two months had) and while I'm aware replacing/updating files is a pain, if one could replace the file that's currently on the CGS server with the most recent one they can already download from here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/duke-nukem-3d-blast-radius/downloads that would be really appreciated. Thank you in advance Puritan if you ever get around to doing that.

I'm trying to play your own episode in full one of these days! Hope you enjoyed Blast Radius. A lot to do in there if one's trying to play 'correctly' but really people just having fun around the levels with DNKROZ on counts as success to me. Cheers!

Here's a playthrough of Koodbool by DNSKILL5:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0Ii3Jm_vk

And one of Tit-E-Bar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9--tKnRnEAc

Thanks again for hosting the files! My best regards.

Thanks for sharing, Puritan!

Here's the (shorter) sequel, hope you dig it: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/12194-release-tit-e-bar/


CGS review / download

Morning and a happy new year, ladies and gents. Today, I'm bringing a new map, made in a week. Enjoy Koodbool (if you can!)

File and screenshots here: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/12188-release-koodbool/page__pid__376244#entry376244


CGS review / Download

Really cool to see a new active contributor to this website, nice one!

Thank you Puritan and happy birthday!

Hi Puritan and thanks for hosting Turnpike!

I have yet another map for you called Red Light Rumble, built in four days: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/12079-release-red-light-rumble/

Hope you enjoy and have a great Sunday! Cheers.

edit - again late to the game with some shame, but I had to update it. Please grab the final version here: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/12079-release-red-light-rumble/page__gopid__372325#entry372325 this is the right one to share. Thanks a lot!

Hi Puritan! Hope you're doing great, I have a new speed map for you I made this week: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/12072-release-turnpike/ although, please do not grab the outdated version of it in the first post. Please use the second one a few posts below instead, as that update addresses some more or less crucial issues.

Enjoy whenever - if you can - and hope you have a great summer. Cheers!

People are reporting issues getting 'banned' by the website upon trying to download maps: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/11912-bobsp4-assistance/ (third post, last paragraph). May be something to look into if there's anything you can do on your end. Happy New Year by the way and thanks for continuing activity for as long as into 2022! Cheers.

Haha yeah, it's a bit frenetic. I hope you liked it!

Spoilers ahead: boss thing doesn't look as good as I wanted to because the Cycloid is just too broken. Original plan was to have it spawn behind the screen and then as soon as the part of the screen with his face on it would collapse it would reveal its true face, but then for some reason the enemy would always get stuck like it did for you (despite surrounding sector Lotags being correctly set up and experiments with making the hole almost as large as the screen) unless I spawned it in a different sector, and super high up. Took some trial and error to get the timing right with his landing and the explosion but now he only gets stuck maybe 15% of the time, otherwise it seems as if he behaves differently on each playthrough due to RNG during his fall. In several scenarii it will be able to progress onto land and run up to the player, you can even go back to the previous area with the slime river (which it can't reach) for a good cover spot. That's when things are most fun, otherwise whenever he does get stuck then yeah that kinda sucks. For the record, correct timing with the screen collapse was to spawn the enemy at about 1.4 million Build units high.

Also I forgot to bring that up, but the map was also designed with consideration for speedrunning in mind, I told that in more detail here: https://forums.duke4.net/topic/11905-release-salvage-title/

Cheers and thanks for the quick hosting!

Bit late to the party but great to hear you're still mapping Puritan, screen is looking nice and style is looking excellent as usual,

I should be posting this in Reviews & Submissions but 2021 had one more surprise in store for you (and honestly for me too): https://msdn.duke4.net/hotsalvage.php I hope you will like it, some of the stylistic choices do kind of remind me of your own maps for som reason. Happy new year, cheers!

Here is my review of Maarten's Weissensee as well as a few screenshots to save you some time.

Another Attack (Part 2): Weissensee

Less than a year after his former hit Woudrichem War, longtime renowned Duke 3D user mapper from the Netherlands Maarten van Oostrum strikes again with what's already the second installment in his work-in-progress episode: Another Attack.

Not to be confused with his brother Merlijn Van Oostrum's (Red, Shaky Grounds), which relies on the same principle of cleverly reinterpreting and repurposing the original Duke 3D textures but in a fashion that always looked a bit more meticulous, Maarten's style has always instead been about rougher shapes and bigger patches of lands, with less emphasis on micromanagement than on composing coherent ensembles of landscapes of elements seemingly thrown in there Jason Pollock-style. (That being said, over the past two decades, it has been rather interesting witnessing each brother get closer and closer to the other's dimension with every new map). While this aspect was already the backbone of some classic levels by Maarten, including the Alien Planet X-64 2 series or his shared piece with Merlijn Clear The Coast, it really was exploited to its fullest recently with Woudrichem War, an open world-type of city level recreating Dutch urban aesthetics Maarten happens to be especially familiar with. This new level, Weissensee, is a direct continuation to Woudrichem War, picking up exactly where that one left off.

Given the enhanced focus on terrain work, it is only logical to expect from both Woudrichem War and Weissensee a huge reliance on platforming, which turns out to be true in both cases. In this level too, the player is required to look not just around but most oftentimes up, spot their next objective (usually a keycard out there in plain sight) and then figure out the right way to get there. But if Woudrichem essentially consisted in one big, mostly unlinear playground based on this concept, things take a slightly different turn here by breaking down the gameplay area into four subsections: a camping site, a cave and a mini golf site on one side of a river (where part of Woudrichem still stands in the background), and then, on the other side, part of the eponymous city of Weissensee itself (although located in Austria in real-life; so, rather far away from Woudrichem). The basic challenge remains similar, except the newfound punctuation in the action helps push a more tangible feeling of progression onto the player and thus makes the gradual conquest of each segment especially rewarding. The map isn't exactly linear either; there is one part where you can explore about and choose to retrieve two different keys in whichever order. This style of minimalistic sequencing also allows for smoother narration in the general storytelling of the map, with the player remaining mostly free to roam around, shoot some well-placed monsters and stare at beautiful Build environments all the while being dictated a basic direction and rhythm.

This is where the poetry of the map speaks up. The environments you will get to traverse are stunning, from detailed landscapes comprising ancient towers, a bridge and a church to a surreal blue cave, and some other places that will take you way up, where you can finally dominate the landscape (again). Just clearing the first half of the map and finally getting to cross the river is a simple achievement that, with such proper presentation, feels nothing short of majestic. Bits of lore are being dropped here and there, but never pushed onto the player and thus mostly consolidate the action as opposed to distracting from it (like it often can in Duke maps). Each location has its own distinct identity, with the ultimate one being the largest and a (refreshingly) brutally honest switch hunt - perhaps one of the most rewarding ones Duke 3D has ever known given the visuals resulting from its completion - as, eventually, everything comes tied together by universal elements such as that moving bus or boat in the backgrounds.

When it comes to gameplay, more generally, there is nothing to fault. Perhaps the average player might scratch their head a bit looking for a way to get to the red key, but that's only if they are lacking observation skills or basic knowledge of Duke 3D physics. Generally speaking, the map is way more than fair (maybe a lot less forgiving on Come Get Some than on Let's Rock), and the enemy placement is perfectly orchestrated around all the existing terrain work - usually relying on well-timed respawns - in a way that both optimally complement each other, resulting in nothing but peak Duke 3D action.

Weissensee is a beautiful level with soul, that looks marvelous and plays really well. Maybe some of the texture and sprite tweaks here and there (such as the flipped over security screens) persist at looking a bit out of place, and since Maarten's style naturally results in terrain so rich in nooks and crannies, it's tempting to imagine him exploiting that trait even further by hiding more of the non-essential items in all those little caches (something he is already doing to a noticeable extent, though). But there is no question that Weissensee is an instant classic, on par if not wiser than Woudrichem War, and so you should play it - which should take you about an hour - and then, once done, rub your hands together in excitement at the thought of the upcoming sequels.

Score: 98